Our first choice for camping spots was Ormiston Gorge, a small National Park campground but one suitable for caravans. We arrived at Ormiston Gorge mid afternoon to find only a few spots in the tiny campground (20 sites in total crammed tighter together than any caravan park we have been to) still available. After driving through the campground and back out to the road we quickly discussed if we should squeeze in there or go to one of the other places nearby. Fortunately we decided to drive through for another look and found a spot tucked up the back that we had not noticed the first time, it was a tricky maneuver to get in and not very flat but we got the van in alright. The next challenge was getting the van flat, the front was down hill and even with the jockey wheel fully raised it was nowhere near flat enough to sleep. Tig found a very large river stone nearby and rolled it under the jockey wheel while lifting the van up with the spare jack. Fortunately the rock had a nice indentation in one side to sit the jockey wheel in and the van was nice and level, although Thea did get nervous every time the kids jumped up and down in the van.
We only paid for one night first up, but it was not long before we checked out the gorge and the short walks nearby and started to relax so paid for another 3 nights. It was so nice to stay in the National Park where it only cost $15 per night for our family of 5 and there was even flushing loos, hot showers and gas BBQs.
We certainly enjoyed staying in the one place for 4 days. We made a couple of day trips, heading to the Ochre Pits and Ellery Creek Big Hole. Both were good but the kids were very disappointed not to be allowed to swim at Ellery Creek Big Hole. The water was freezing and there were heaps of dead fish along the beach, which made it quite unpleasant. The fish dying is a seasonal thing. As the water cools in winter (it is very cold overnight) and the fish get forced into the deep water holes as the rivers dry up, an algae grows on the fish’s gills suffocating them. While not so pleasant for us, it provides very easy meals for many of the birds and other wild life.
On the way back to Ormiston Gorge we stopped in at Glen Helen Gorge where there is a ‘Resort’, which many people had few nice things to say about. We decided to stop in anyway and the short walk to the gorge revealed the nicest place we had visited in the West MacDonnell range. The water in the Finke River that passes through Glen Helen gorge was still flowing from the recent rains and there was a sandbar to sit back on and enjoy the view through the gorge from. The rock walls of the gorge were stunning, with clear blue water below and another mountain range behind. Although we did not have the kids swimmers with us and the water was very cold the kids quickly had there shoes off and shorts and skirts pulled up trying to push the boundaries of how far they could go in. We strolled back to the Resort and enjoyed a drink or two along with ice creams and chips on the back verandah overlooking the Finke River and the mountains as the sun slowly set on another perfect day. We concluded that Glen Helen Resort is one of those places that does not live up to the resort name, but if your expectations are low, it is a wonderful place but there is nothing modern about it.
After a busy day the day before, we decided to hang around camp. This meant catching up on the big pile of washing and a bit of schoolwork and journal writing for Maddi. We have a little camp washing machine that some great friends of ours picked up at the Camping and Caravan Show in Sydney. It runs off the inverter and uses almost no power, the washer fits half a dozen t-shirts or heaps of smalls and there is a spinner beside that works well but only takes half the load at a time. It’s pretty time consuming to use but you can do other things at the same time and it is better than spending a day in town doing the washing at $4 a load.
We got chatting to a family nearby traveling with 3 girls. Our kids love it when there are other kids to play with so we all went for a walk up to the lookout and onto a water hole for lunch. It was nice to relax when we got back, the kids were entertained and we sat down to have a chat to our new friends the Scotts. They were so relaxed that while they had intended to move on, were still chatting when the Camp Manager came around to collect camp fees at about 6pm so decided they better stay the night. All 6 kids were tucked under the dooner in their motor home watching a video (I thought our kids had forgotten what TV was) so WWIII would have broken out if the Scotts had decided to leave anyway. As it was getting dark we thought that we should cook dinner so the butterflied lamb was cooked on the BBQ for a late dinner.
Another relaxed start for us, (the Scotts were already on the road before any of our kids were up) allowed Maddi to get lots of school work done with Thea and Tig to finish the washing while Kai and Ella did a great job of entertaining themselves. We headed back to Gosse Bluff for a late lunch and a short walk to the lookout over the massive (5kms across) crater created by a comet some 120 million years ago.
Within minutes of arriving back in camp we had a little boy (Matthew, 4) running straight over to our caravan asking Kai if he would like to play. Kai was so excited. Most of the families we have met have had girls and a little older and it was now obvious that there are not too many little boys traveling and that both of them were very pleased to have a friend. The cars and trucks were out being driven around in the dirt and there were two very sad boys when dinnertime was called and Matthew had to go back home. Maddi too was excited as Matthew had an older sister (Marley, 9), which was especially amazing as the youngest Scott was also Marlee who Maddi had enjoyed playing with the day before.
The kids were very excited to play together again the next morning as we packed up to head back to Alice for a day or two before heading to the East MacDonnell Ranges.
So until then…
Tig
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